Round 3 & 4: Texas Motor Speedway. April 30 - May 2.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 3 & 4: Texas Motor Speedway. April 30 - May 2.


Last year the start of the 2020 season was posponed and a number of races cancelled due to the corona virus. In May, IndyCar announced a revised calendar, with the season starting on June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway. This season the race calendar is still being effected by the coronavirus and rather than one 600km race, TMS will be hosting a double header, the Genysys 300 on Saturday May 1 and the Xpel 375 on Sunday May 2; both race distances are in miles rather than kilometers.

This will be the 25th consecutive year Texas Motor Speedway has held an event on the IndyCar calendar. On June 7th 1997, the Indy Racing League held the "1997 True Value 500", the 6th round of the fledgling series at Texas Motor Speedway and it was the first night race in the history of AOWR. It was won by Arie Luyendyk, driving a Panoz G-Force-Oldsmobile for Treadway Racing. Since then it has been a perennial event on the IndyCar series calendar.

From 1998-2004 the track hosted two races per season, with the second race held in October. In 2007, the race distance was increased from 500km to 550. In 2011, the 'Firestone Twin 275s' were held, made up of two 275km races, separated by a "halftime", with half points awarded for each race. The grid for the second race was decided by a random draw, which proved so unpopular, the twin race format was scrapped the following year. In 2014, the race distance was further extended to 600km.

In 2001, CART added the "Firestone Firehawk 600" at TMS for April 29th, to their calendar. However, after practice and qualifying, the race was cancelled as drivers reported vertigo like symptoms and vision problems, after sustaining high lateral forces of 5.5G, while driving in excess of 230 mph or 370 km/h on the 24 degree banking. TMS sued CART, after it emerged CART officials had ignored repeated requests to test their cars before the race. This resulted in a legal settlement, estimated to have been around $5–7 million, which CART paid to TMS. Many pundits have cited the law suit and settlement as a key reason for CART's demise.

Some Trivia:
Driver with the most wins, 4.
Hélio Castroneves: 2004, 2006, 2009, 2013.
Team with the most wins, 10.
Team Penske: 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2017, 2019.


Track Layout:





Length: 1.5 Miles (2.4 km)
Turns: 4

Lap record:
Paul Tracy April 28 2001. 0:22.542, 239.552 mph (385.521 kmh)
Team Green,
Reynard 01i-Honda HR-1 V8t,
CART FedEx Championship Series.

Last Year's Race:
https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...alue%5D=265590


Pole:
Takuma Sato, two-lap average: 47.0738 sec. 220.250 mph, (354.458 km/h)
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI20R Indy-V-6

Last year's winner:
Scott Dixon,
Chip Ganassi Racing
Dallara IR18-Honda HI20R Indy-V-6

Laps: 200
Distance: 300 Miles (482.803 Km)
Time: 1:38:37
Average speed: 175.201 Mph (281.958 km/h)
Fastest lap: Felix Rosenqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, lap 189, .24.1088 sec, 215.025 mph (346.049 km/h)

Cautions: 4
Laps 24: 38-45, 77-85, 191-196, 200-200


Genysys 300 broadcast:
NBCSN, May 01, 7:00pm ET, 11:00pm UTC
Sky Sports F1, 00:00am BST

Xpel 375 broadcast:
NBCSN, May 02, 5:00pm ET, 9:00pm UTC
Sky Sports F1, 10:00pm BST